The International Cricket Council (ICC) has said that a player needs to be minimum age of 15 years to play international cricket -- men’s, women’s and Under-19 -- in any form. (More Cricket News)
"The Board confirmed the introduction of minimum age restrictions for international cricket to improve safeguarding of players which will apply across all cricket including ICC events, bilateral cricket and U19 cricket. To play in any form of men’s, women’s or U19 international cricket players must now be a minimum age of 15," the ICC said in a statement. Earlier, there was no age bar for a cricketer to play international cricket.
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Pakistan’s Hasan Raja who made his Test debut at the age of 14 years and 227 days is the youngest. He went on to play 7 Tests, 16 ODIs from 1996 to 2005.
In India, batting legend Sachin Tendulkar at the age of 16 years and 205 days is the youngest to have represented the country in Test cricket. Tendulkar finished with 15,921 runs in Test, while he scored 18,426 in ODIs.
ICC, however, further clarified that in exceptional circumstances it will be willing to bend the rule at the request of member board.
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"In case of exceptional circumstances, a Member Board could apply to the ICC to allow a player under the age of 15 to play for them. This could include where the player’s playing experience and mental development and well-being demonstrates that they would be capable of coping with the demands of international cricket," ICC Statement further added.
